Chinese Rugs

Chinese rugs at a glance

• Origin: China (including Peking, Tientsin, Ningxia); antique pieces often via the US export trade of the 1920s–1930s
• Material: new wool on cotton; fine pieces in pure silk
• Pile: dense, usually 3–8 mm; pattern often carved in relief
• Knot density: approx. 60,000 to 250,000 knots per m² in wool
• Motifs: Dragons, vases, peonies, lotus, cloud bands, meander and good-luck symbols; corners and borders geometric
• Age: mostly old and antique (1910–1980), cleaned and partly or fully restored

The history of the China rug

Rugs were in all likelihood known in China very early on. The Mongol invasion of 1279 gave a boost to the local rug production that already existed at the time, as the invaders brought Central Asian rugs with them in particular and used them for tents and saddlery. An exhibition in Saint Louis (USA) in 1903 awakened interest in Chinese rugs in the Western world. Soon afterwards, rugs were being made in China solely for export to Europe and North America. Many of these export rugs from the 1920s to the 1930s are now coming back from the USA to Europe – hence the description “US Import” on some of our pieces.

How to recognise a China rug

The palette is pared back to a few select colours. The handful of decorative elements is arranged with great subtlety. The proportions are generous, and the detached placement of the motifs makes them look modern. Typical motifs are dragons, vases and peonies on abstracted leaves and vines. Along the edges you often find geometric forms, especially interwoven meander and good-luck symbols. The motifs take their cue from those on Chinese porcelain made during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Another characteristic: on many China rugs the pile is bevelled along the motifs, so that the pattern stands out in relief.

Why a China rug suits modern rooms

Few motifs, plenty of open ground, muted colours such as beige, blue, dusky pink or gold: a China rug reads like a large-format picture and goes with clean, modern interiors just as well as with a period building. The dense wool pile is hard-wearing – the old pieces have already proved that.

Read more

• Old & antique rugs
• silk rugs
• Aubusson, Tapestry & Needlepoint
• Classic Oriental rugs
• History of the rug
• Professional rug cleaning